The District and the Washington Nationals have reached an agreement that allows the ball club to hand over unpaid rent for its new ballpark.
D.C. leaders and Washington Nationals officials issued a joint statement to announce the deal.
WTOP reported that a deal was signed between the two parties Friday night. Acting Attorney General Peter Nickles told the radio station that the Nationals will pay D.C. $3.5 million on Monday.
In exchange, the city will return letters of credit to the Lerner family, which owns the team, extend the ballpark's liquor license and resolve thousands of unfinished items in the stadium.
D.C. and Nationals officials said that all outstanding issues they had have been resolved.
The statement from city officials and the team is below:
"We thank the taxpayers of Washington, DC and Washington Nationals fans everywhere for their patience as we worked to ensure that they get all they were promised for their public investment in Nationals Park. We all worked closely on a daily basis for several months to get to this point. It was always our position that the very best possibility for the long-term success of the Nationals - and, for realizing the fullest economic development return on the taxpayer dollar - was to build a premier ballpark with all the amenities that could make it the kind of family entertainment destination that befits the Official Home of the National Pastime in the Nation's Capital.
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We applaud all involved for their efforts to resolve the issue. We believe the process was well-served through diligent work and we thank everyone for their cooperation through the entire negotiations. The Nationals have agreed to release the rent payment and all parties will work together from this point forward and have resolved all outstanding issues."
